From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view
Zampano flicked another coin into the shallow water, the sound of the splashes rippling to his sensitive ear. He sighed again and leant back against the wall. Had he lost anything? Had he gained anything? He couldn't tell. He had never been sure in the first place, and now that the uncertainity had passed he realised that certainty was not all it was meant to be.
He toyed with the last coin between his fingers, switching it from heads to tails, his fingers gliding over the sides gently, feeling every contour and every ridge. With a flick of his thumb it spiralled through the air, splashing into the waters around the Taiban monument. With no more coins, there was nothing left stay for, slowly he stood, flipping open his phone to Marcus.
"Nearest bar, Marcus, and after that nearest collection of bad guys that need an education in pain" He said without any trace of his usual humour. Slowly he set off, another whisky, another night, nothing changed, or had it?
* * (To Be Furthered)
